Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave: the transition from abolitionist propaganda to Hollywood tie-in.
Rachel Concannon
Abstract
An analysis of the ways in which the role and function of a text can alter over time. This article will focus primarily on the slave narrative Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, and explore the development of the text from its original purpose of abolitionist propaganda, to a focus of academic interest and research, to its current function as a cinematic tie-in. The role of the publisher will be discussed at each different stage, and how their interference has arguably affected the meaning and reading of the slave narrative. It will be argued that the function of a text, as well as its format, can change the way in which the reader perceives it.
Rachel Concannon
Abstract
An analysis of the ways in which the role and function of a text can alter over time. This article will focus primarily on the slave narrative Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, and explore the development of the text from its original purpose of abolitionist propaganda, to a focus of academic interest and research, to its current function as a cinematic tie-in. The role of the publisher will be discussed at each different stage, and how their interference has arguably affected the meaning and reading of the slave narrative. It will be argued that the function of a text, as well as its format, can change the way in which the reader perceives it.